Apple to Release 7 inch iPad Before Christmas: Report

There is rumor that Apple is going to release mini 7 ” iPad just in time before the holidays. The price of 7″ iPad is supposed to be cheaper than the 10″ one and it could also be a great competitor to the series of tablets scheduled to hit stores later this year or early in 2011: Blackberry Blackpad, Samsung Galaxy tab and Motorola Stringray. According to Economic Daily News, Taiwan based Chimei Innolux is making the 7-inch LCD displays for Apple, and they are going to use the same IPS technology that was found on the 9.7-inch iPad. The touchscreen technology is coming from Cando Corporation and Compal Electronics is going to build the iPad 2.

“A smaller iPad solves,one of the minor gripes that some users have about the initial device: That it weighs a fraction too much to hold after a while. Peering at the guts of the first iPad, it was clear that there was a lot of empty space inside the thing, so it’s easy to imagine all the battery and electronics tech being squeezed into a smaller shell,” says Kit Eaton at First Company.

Apple has used Compal Electronics, one of the world’s largest contract laptop computer makers, to assemble the new iPad, the report says. The companies named in the Economic Daily report didn’t want to comment. Contract manufacturers and component makers normally do not disclose the type of products they’re currently making. If they fail to maintain secrecy, it can cause them to lose on future contracts.